Ethics

ethics. n.

1.

a. A set of principles of right conduct.

b. A theory or a system of moral values.

2. ethics (used with a sing. verb) The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy.

3. ethics (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics.

Metaethics

The term “meta” means after or beyond, and, consequently, the notion of metaethics involves a removed, or bird’s eye view of the entire project of ethics. We may define metaethics as the study of the origin and meaning of ethical concepts. When compared to normative ethics and applied ethics, the field of metaethics is the least precisely defined area of moral philosophy. It covers issues from moral semantics to moral epistemology. Two issues, though, are prominent: (1) metaphysical issues concerning whether morality exists independently of humans, and (2) psychological issues concerning the underlying mental basis of our moral judgments and conduct.

James Fieser, "Ethics," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy," accessed 22 May 2010, <http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/>

1. What is the meaning of moral terms or judgments? In other words, what do we mean when we assign ideas of 'good', 'bad', 'right' and 'wrong'?"

2. Metaphysics of Ethics: What is the nature of moral judgments? Are truths objective or relative? Are truths derived from the study of the divine, logic, nature, or cultural practice?

3. Epistemlogy of Ethics: How may moral judgments be supported or defended? In other words, how do we know truth?

4. Moral Psychology: Why be moral? Are humans naturally egoistic or altruistic? Are moral choices ruled by emotion or reason?

Normative Ethics

Normative ethics involves arriving at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. In a sense, it is a search for an ideal litmus test of proper behavior. The Golden Rule is a classic example of a normative principle: We should do to others what we would want others to do to us. Since I do not want my neighbor to steal my car, then it is wrong for me to steal her car. Since I would want people to feed me if I was starving, then I should help feed starving people. Using this same reasoning, I can theoretically determine whether any possible action is right or wrong. So, based on the Golden Rule, it would also be wrong for me to lie to, harass, victimize, assault, or kill others. The Golden Rule is an example of a normative theory that establishes a single principle against which we judge all actions. Other normative theories focus on a set of foundational principles, or a set of good character traits.

James Fieser, "Ethics," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy," accessed 22 May 2010, <http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/>

1. Virtue Ethics: emphasizes the importance of building virtuous character traits, such as wisdom, courage, temperance and justice, which Plato called the "cardinal virtues."

2. Deontological, or Duty, Ethics: emphasizes that proper behavior derives from following obligatory duties, regardless of consequence.

3. Consequentialist, or Teleological, Ethics: moral conduct is determined by the consequences of actions.

Applied Ethics

Applied ethics is the branch of ethics which consists of the analysis of specific, controversial moral issues such as abortion, animal rights, or euthanasia. In recent years applied ethical issues have been subdivided into convenient groups such as medical ethics, business ethics, environmental ethics, and sexual ethics. Generally speaking, two features are necessary for an issue to be considered an “applied ethical issue.” First, the issue needs to be controversial in the sense that there are significant groups of people both for and against the issue at hand. The issue of drive-by shooting, for example, is not an applied ethical issue, since everyone agrees that this practice is grossly immoral. By contrast, the issue of gun control would be an applied ethical issue since there are significant groups of people both for and against gun control.

The second requirement for in issue to be an applied ethical issue is that it must be a distinctly moral issue. On any given day, the media presents us with an array of sensitive issues such as affirmative action policies, gays in the military, involuntary commitment of the mentally impaired, capitalistic versus socialistic business practices, public versus private health care systems, or energy conservation. Although all of these issues are controversial and have an important impact on society, they are not all moral issues. Some are only issues of social policy. The aim of social policy is to help make a given society run efficiently by devising conventions, such as traffic laws, tax laws, and zoning codes. Moral issues, by contrast, concern more universally obligatory practices, such as our duty to avoid lying, and are not confined to individual societies. Frequently, issues of social policy and morality overlap, as with murder which is both socially prohibited and immoral. However, the two groups of issues are often distinct. For example, many people would argue that sexual promiscuity is immoral, but may not feel that there should be social policies regulating sexual conduct, or laws punishing us for promiscuity.

James Fieser, "Ethics," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy," accessed 22 May 2010, <http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/>

An Outline to the Study of Ethics

Dr. Jason M. Kelly

Indiana University, Purdue University, Indianapolis

jaskelly@iupui.edu

ETHICS